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Review Summary

The Daphne refers to Hariko Sugimura, a widow with four daughters. Two of the girls still live at home; the other two are married, with lives of their own. The film chronicles the shifting-sand relationship between mother and daughters, with happiness and heartbreak coming out even. The cast of The Daphne was impressive by Japanese film-industry standards, though few of the stars are recognizable names to western audiences. Released in a 106-minute version in the US, The Daphne ran nearly three hours in its original Japanese version, which went out under the title Jinchoge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi